Verdict: With packages that start at just 19.95 a month, we found DISH to be the best satellite TV service out there. You can find out more and sign up for DISH here.

DISH or DirecTV?

For years, I had digital cable. I hated my service, but I stuck with it, thinking that it wasn’t going to get any better. I suffered through the outages, the high bills, and the terrible customer service. At one time, I was paying well over $200 a month to my cable company for a bundled package with my internet and home phone, and I finally decided that it was enough. That was too much money to give to the local provider that couldn’t even ensure that my service was going to work from day to day. So finally, I made a decision to check out satellite TV that I had been hearing so much about. That night I ended up researching both DISH and DirecTV.

I found that in most cases DISH is the better service, below I will explain why.

Affordable Packages

The first thing I noticed when I compared DISH and DirecTV was the fact that the DISH packages were generally cheaper each month than comparable DirecTV packages. I decided to go with the Turbo HD Gold package, which is around $40 a month, however with Comcast I was paying over $100 a month for the same exact channels. On top of these savings, DISH actually has a deal going right now that your first twelve months are just $19.95, regardless of what package you sign up for.

The second reason I decided to go with DISH was because of the large amount of channels in HD that DISH offers. DISH not only has an affordable HD packages, with their Turbo HD service they have the largest selection of HD channels out of all cable and satellite TV providers.

This was a main selling point for me, considering I just bought a new 47 inch LCD TV and wanted to take advantage of the full 1080p broadcasts that DISH offers. Comcast currently only broadcasts channels in 1080i.

Overall, if your looking for the most affordable TV service out there, I recommend DISH . You will get the most bang for your buck and can potentially save hundreds of dollars a year over comparable cable or DirecTV packages.

can I receive my local channels ONLY? would I be able to add internet and phone service to a local channels only package? also, with DVR be available with the local channels ONLY? (adding the phone and internet, of course)

If you're looking to sign up for Satellite TV service we currently recommend DISH. DISH has the most channels and lowest prices. We currently have a special deal for Satellite TV Guru readers, just call the number below to sign up and get these great bonuses: